The Will o' the Wisp
by redmoon333
Summary: HIATUS
1. Prelude: Part 1

Will o' the Wisp

Prelude –Part 1–

AOKIGAHARA FOREST

Footsteps could be heard throughout the normally silent forest as a woman ran through the foliage in a blind panic. In her arms was a small bundle wrapped in a cloth of the lightest violet. The woman ran and ran and ran, trying to get away from some unseen danger. After what seemed like an eternity of running, the woman finally stopped and gave a great shriek.

Breathing hard, the woman set the bundle down in the grass and gazed hard down at it. Wrapped in the violet cloth was her very first child; a girl with black hair and the most beautiful deep violet eyes. The woman snarled. Those violet eyes ran through her head, taunting her. Despite its beauty, the woman only saw the child as one thing: a monster. What human has those deep violet eyes? The child did not even cry at birth; just stared with those eerie, intelligent eyes.

The woman gave a cold, bitter smile. She would leave the child here. A monster like it should just die. The woman walked off in an unknown direction, leaving the child behind. The woman walked and walked until finally, she reached a drop-off. It was steep and, should someone fall, it would be a long ways down. The woman paused only to pray for forgiveness for allowing such a monster into the world, if only for a few brief days. Then, the woman flung herself off. The woman thought only of her regret of the birth of her child as she fell.

For a while, all was silent in the forest once more. Then, a sickening crunch and the forest was silent once more.

* * *

The baby simply laid there. She knew not the death of her mother, nor of anything else. She simply glanced around at this strange, green place her mother placed her in. She didn't even know when exactly the sun went down. All that she knew was that there were strange blue orbs dancing around her and they were quite amusing to watch.

By the next day, the babe was gone and none would know that she had ever existed.

* * *

AN: In case you didn't know, Aokigahara Forest is a place near Mt. Fuji in Japan. It is famous for the amount of suicides that are performed there and is nicknamed the Suicide Forest.


	2. Prelude: Part 2

Prelude –Part 2–

NADESHIKO VILLAGE, NADESHIKO NO SATO

In the Pink Flower Village, all was normal. Men and women bustled about in the streets, running errands, doing chores, or conversing with dear friends. Of course, for one woman things were about to get a little…strange.

Takeda Ayame was having, what some would call, a bad case of the Monday Blues. She was getting ready to go to her very tedious job of teaching at the ninja academy. Her first year students this year were a _pain_. And not a small pain, either. They were a GIGANTIC pain. They were wild and had no amount of respect for _anyone_. Not even their leader, Lady Shizuka, herself!

Tired from grading papers late last night, Ayame practically had to drag herself out of her nice, warm bed. She trudged into the kitchen and started a pot of tea. From there, she made the simple breakfast of toast and eggs. By the time she finished preparing her breakfast, the teapot on the oven was already screaming. She brought out a cup and placed a teabag in it. From there, she poured the boiling hot water to let it soak. Of course, it would be the typical Monday if some of the searing water didn't splash out and hit any vulnerable part of her arms.

She hissed, still keeping her grip on the teapot, and continued to pour. Once she was through with the pot, she threw it into the sink with a snarl. She gingerly grabbed her teacup (the hot water made the cup hot, as well) and plate and walked into her apartment living room and turned on her television. Of course, nothing of interest was on, so Ayame ate in bored silence.

After putting her dishes in the sink, she began to get ready for work, also known as "Ayame's Own Personal Hell". "Code: AOPH" for short. The "getting ready" process didn't take long, thankfully. Once showered and dressed, she swiftly packed her lunch and headed out the door. She opened the door and immediately froze. At her doorstep was one last and completely unexpected obastacle.

A baby.

There was a baby at her doorstep. Ayame glanced around the neighborhood to see if any women looked suspicious of abandoning a baby. Once her hopes were dashed, she reached down and gently picked the baby up.

The child was unusually silent, a fact that frightened the Academy teacher greatly. Still carrying the babe, Ayame went back inside and called the head of the Ninja Academy, her boss, and let him know of the situation. He, luckily for her, let her have the day off to get the whole situation sorted out. The first stop for Ayame and the child was the hospital for a brief check up. The med-nin that had seen the child had told her that it was completely fine, although, they still needed to check for any ability to become a ninja. So, another medic-nin who specialized in that kind of thing came in and looked for any sign of potential.

"From the looks of it, she was only born a few days ago. At most a couple of weeks. For one so young, she has an astounding amount of chakra locked in the coils. Fortunately, she's still very young and can have the chakra coils harvested. It will take at least 30 minutes, but it would be better to go ahead and get it out of the way." And it was so.

From there, Ayame went to the store and bought baby supplies (just the small stuff like diapers, food, and formula). Due to it being a Monday (the unluckiest day of the week, for her), she was on the receiving end of many stares. She also ran into several close friends who asked about the child. By the time she got home, Ayame was ready to bash her head in.

The first thing Ayame decided to do, from there, was see if the baby's diaper needed changing. She set the baby on the couch in front of her and began to muster up the courage to face the possible stench of a filthy diaper. For a while, she just stared down the diaper. Finally, taking a deep breath and holding it, she opened up the baby's diaper. To her relief, the diaper was clean. She released her held breath in the form of a sigh. Then, she summoned a clone and got it to prepare the baby formula. She picked the baby up and paced about, nervous about doing taking care of the small child.

When the formula was ready, she fed it to the baby who greedily drank it up. Watching the child, she noticed something odd about the child: she had the deepest violet eyes. In the babe's mirth, they sparkled magnificently. Continuing to watch the child eat, Ayame felt a smile form on her face.

That's when it hit Ayame: what was the baby's name? In the folds of the blanket surrounding the child, Ayame checked for any sign of a note or name. She found nothing.

_It looks like I'm going to have to name this child._

Sitting down, with the currently full and playful baby in her lap, Ayame thought and thought on what she could possibly name the child. While still thinking, she played with the child (it had a great fascination with her fingers); watching the child's eyes sparkle as they did when they were eating. Then, it came to her.

"Akiko."

At the sound of her voice, the baby's attention shifted to Ayame's face. It stared at her with the intensity of hellfire. So, Ayame said it again.

"Akiko."

At this, the baby let loose and endearing smile and cooed. Ayame felt her maternal instincts flare at this. She smiled and repeated the name over and over again, if only to see that wondrous smile.

After that day, it was decided that the infant's name was Akiko Takeda.


End file.
